Close to 30,000 jobless Kenyan nurses will have access to work in the United Kingdom (UK) after President Uhuru Kenyatta secured a historic deal.
President Uhuru who is on a three-day State visit as guest of government in the UK launched the new Kenya and British governments health agreements when on a visit to the Royal College of Physicians.
It allows unemployed Kenyan nurses and health workers to work in the UK, and cements links between institutions on improving cancer treatment for Kenyans.
The Kenyan and British health partnership was cemented further and grew from strength to strength with President Uhuru’s visit.
Other key highlights of the agreements include;
i) 817,000 COVID-19 vaccines donated
ii) Support on genomic sequencing
iii)Helping Kenya treat more cancer patients
iv) A new Kenya-UK Health Alliance
The unemployed health workers will serve in the UK’s National Health Service before returning to work in Kenya following the unprecedented deal that has been welcomed by health workers in Kenya.
The agreement was signed by UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Kenya’s Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui, in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta who is on a three-day working visit to the UK.
This is good news for the more than 30,000 jobless Kenyan nurses and healthcare workers, coming barely six months after the UK allowed skilled Kenyans without degrees to apply for work permits in Britain under post-Brexit immigration rules.
In July 2020, UK introduced a new points-based immigration system, implemented from January 2021, which lowered the requirement for job applicants to minimum skill level of A-level or equivalent from degree-level under the 27-member EU bloc system.
